Rome Internationals, Sky also holds the rights for free-to-air matches

In the end, the Internazionali di Tennis in Rome, just now, on the wave of successes of a 'movement' headed by world ranking leader Jannik Sinner, must have seemed too greedy in the eyes of Sky not to try to bet on the en plein effects.

For the Internazionali Bnl d'Italia 2026 - and specifically for the part scheduled from 6 to 17 May at the Foro Italico - Comcast's media company will guarantee full coverage on Sky Sport, flanked however by a significant novelty on the industrial level: one match a day of the men's tournament will be broadcast live, free-to-air, on Sky's 'flagship' free network, namely Tv8.

The news tells, after all, more than a simple programming choice. It says that Sky wants to hold on to the editorial centrality of the event, while widening the perimeter of the audience. In other words, to use free-to-air not as an alternative to subscription, but as a visibility multiplier. It is in this key that the decision not to divide the free-to-air rights for one match per day (as requested when Atp assigned the rights for the entire event) should certainly be read.

So far, the partner has been Rai, but interest on this occasion, as reported in the Sole 24 Ore of 15 April, had also been put on the table by Mediaset, which in February acquired the free-to-air TV rights to the Nitto Atp Tennis Finals for the next multi-year cycle, starting in 2026. This deal marked the transition of one of the most-watched sporting events on the international calendar from the Rai networks to the Cologno Monzese group.

This is not a neutral transition. Tennis in Italia is undergoing a phase of expansion, supported by sports results and an evident growth in ratings. The recent figures quoted by Sky itself are indicative: the Monte Carlo final, won by Jannik Sinner, reached 25% share with over 3.2 million average viewers between Sky and Tv8; even more marked was the result of Wimbledon 2025, with over 40% share and 5.67 million average viewers.